FIVE COMMON PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS SHARE A GENETIC LINKSHOULD WE BE SURPRISED?

Should we be surprised at this headline? Of course we shouldn't be surprised! In fact, if you happened to catch my recent post on the link between AUTISM, VACCINES, and ANTIBIOTICS (HERE), you probably already figured this one out on your own. I stated in the article above that the the exact same principles used for dealing with Autism naturally, are being shown to be effective for dealing with other common mental issues such as DEPRESSION and ADHD as well. In fact, all five of these problems that used to be loosely categorized as "Crazy", are proving to be more receptive to natural methods of treatment than ever before imagined possible.

A brand new study from the Lancet --- one of the oldest and most prestigious medical journals on the planet --- showed that the five disorders listed in the title share a common genetic link. This genetic link is present even though the course of each disorder is different, ultimately leading to a different group of symptoms for each. The authors, who claim the study was the biggest ever of its kind, looked at over 33,000 cases of psychiatric disorders, and compared them to nearly 28,000 control subjects. They made some interesting observations along the way ---- primarily that all five of these problems share common genetic origins. But is the field of genetics everything it's cracked up to be, or are we sometimes chasing the wrong culprit?

EPIGENETICS

The development and maintenance of an organism is orchestrated by a set of chemical reactions that switch parts of the genome off and on at strategic times and locations. Epigenetics is the study of these reactions and the factors that influence them.... The genome dynamically responds to the environment. Stress, diet, behavior, toxins and other factors activate chemical switches that regulate gene expression. What you eat can change your gene expression. Parents have a role in shaping the epigenome. Epigenetic mechanisms play an important role both in normal brain function and in mental illness.Cherry-picked from the headlines of various articles from the website of the University of Utah's Genetics Department

My goal here is not to throw too much water on understanding the importance of Genetics. However, it seems that the field of EPIGENETICS is in some ways doing it for me. As we learn more and more about genes, DNA, and genetic makeup, one thing is clear ---- we are not necessarily defined by our genes. Sure, if your DNA says you will be a 6' 2" 200lbs male with blue eyes and blond curly hair, you can't very well make yourself a 5' 6" 120 lb female with straight black hair, without some serious cosmetic, surgical, and pharmacological help. Yes, genetics unequivocally play a huge role in who we are. But are we giving our genes too much credit? You can begin to answer this question for yourself by re-reading the quote from the University of Utah above.

A rather major point (probably the point) in evolutionary philosophy, is that we are largely (if not solely) a product of our genetic makeup. Are you fat? It's just bad genes? Do you have a bad temper? It's a family trait. You have AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES? It's that dadblasted DNA! However, as you can see from the quote above, the field of Epigenetics says that we are not so much defined by our genes as we are defined by the various things that turn our genes on or off. And what are these things? They mention some of the more obvious ones (parental upbringing, stress, diet, etc). But there are a couple elephants in the room that are being ignored by most of the scientific medical community.

Understand that the medical community never uses information like that found in this study to actually make people healthier. Their goal? As stated in the study, it is to, "contribute to prediction and prevention of psychiatric diseases, along with the identification of molecular targets for new generations of psychotropic drugs." You see, it's always about the drugs. It has to be. The studies themselves are funded by the drug industry, carried out in research centers that were built by pharmaceutical dollars, by doctors who are getting paid by big pharma (HERE is an example of this). And unfortunately, the "drugs-for-everything" approach of modern medicine has not panned out as well as initially hoped.

By the way, this is not the first time a link between these sorts of psychiatric problems has been proposed. In Dr. Harris Coulter's 1990 offering called VACCINATION, SOCIAL VIOLENCE, AND CRIMINALITY: THE MEDICAL ASSAULT ON THE AMERICAN BRAIN, he makes a great case that all five of these things are linked as well. What is one of the big "Epigenetic Switches" that is turning these genes on so that they can express Psychiatric Disease? If you read the beginning of the post, you saw that not only are Antibiotics one of the bigger "Epigenetic Switches", but so are Vaccinations. Throw them in bed together and you have the potential for a Tsunami --- the "Perfect Storm" for creating a lifetime of ill health. Before you take your children for their next series of shots, or go for another FLUSHOT yourself, look into this issue. It is the elephant in the room that everyone shuffles past while staring at the ground and trying not to acknowledge or make eye contact with.

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Dr. Schierling completed four years of Kansas State University's five-year Nutrition / Exercise Physiology Program before deciding on a career in Chiropractic. He graduated from Logan Chiropractic College in 1991, and has run a busy clinic in Mountain View, Missouri ever since. He and his wife Amy have four children (three daughters and a son).